


You win either way

by plikki



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Identity Reveal, Post-Episode: s03 Oblivio
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:49:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28605504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plikki/pseuds/plikki
Summary: When Alya asks Marinette and Adrien to help her figure out what happened during the fight with Oblivio, they are both too eager to hear her suggestions, while also fearing the truths that might transpire. It turns out, there is nothing to be afraid of.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 37
Kudos: 336





	You win either way

**Author's Note:**

  * For [meirencollector](https://archiveofourown.org/users/meirencollector/gifts).



> I wasn't kidding when I said I would write you a fic. And then we got talking about Oblivio yesterday and I was like, I know what you want to read, why not write it? A post-Oblivio reveal for you, I hope you like it!

Marinette had gone to the library for a study session. She had a project she needed to prepare on and Adrien just happened to be there. She’d seen Alya in the corner, absorbed in something, so she’d left her alone. She hadn’t expected that when she started talking to Adrien she’d be roped into something that would change her life forever.

“What is it?” She asked Alya. She couldn’t see what she was looking at from that angle, but when they sat down on either side of her and her eyes finally landed on the tablet in her friend’s hands, Marientte felt like a bucket of cold water was thrown over her. 

There, in all its glory, was the photo that haunted her life. She’d spent days and nights poring over it, trying to decipher the secret behind it. There was no logical explanation, no reasonable excuse for what it represented. Marinette had fought hard against the realisation, but when she looked at it again, months after the event, she still felt the same feeling unfurl inside of her. Love. It was love. There was no way around it. One glance at the incriminating photo was enough to bring back all the torturing doubt and questions swirling inside of her. She thought she’d quietened them down, but it didn’t seem to be the case anymore. 

She was kissing him, there was no doubt about that. She couldn’t deny the obvious, even if she was inclined to believe that he’d ever kiss her against her wish, which she wasn’t, she knew him too well. It was there, in the way she was leaning into the touch, the way her eyes were closed in what looked like perfect harmony with her feelings. Judging by their height difference, she could tell she was on her tiptoes, trying to get closer to him. The signs were enough. Was there any point in trying to refute this, it was there for all the world to see.

“Marinette?” Alya’s voice brought her back to the present, snapping her attention away from the photo. Of her kissing Chat. Of that forgotten moment. 

“Yes?” she asked, clearing her throat. 

“Will you help me?” her unsuspecting friend asked, no doubt confused by her reaction to a simple photo that supposedly had nothing to do with her. 

“What exactly are you trying to do?” Marinette asked. Logical thinking and talking should help to calm her heart, so she bet on that.

“It’s been months and I still can’t figure out what went down at Montparnasse while they were fighting Oblivio,” Alya groaned in exasperation.

“Why do you want to know?” Adrien’s quiet voice reminded them of his presence, something that had completely slipped Marinette’s mind. In response, Alya just gestured to the photo in front of them and they all stared at it again.

“It doesn’t make any sense! It’s there, it’s all there. And then it wasn’t. Grr. I’m trying to write an article about it. When the photo first flooded the internet, there was tons of speculation. I didn’t confirm or deny any of it since I couldn’t. Yes, I’d been there but I didn’t know. I’m trying to make sense of it now, if only for my own sake. It’s driving me crazy.”

Marinette could empathise with that. She wanted answers as well, answers she’d never get since Chat didn’t remember either and there was no other record of that time. 

“Ok, what are your theories?” She asked. It wouldn’t hurt to talk about it, right? She saw Adrien nod across the table. Clearly he wanted to hear them as well.

“There are two options that make the most sense,” Alya started, her voice regaining some of its confidence as she went into presentation mode. “Ladybug said she was in love with someone else. I don’t think she had a reason to lie, Chat Noir also seemed to believe her. So. Version one - they transformed while they were under Oblivio’s spell and saw who each other was under the mask. It turned out he was exactly the guy she was in love with already.” Alya looked at them expectantly at this declaration.

Marinette’s eyes moved on their own accord, finding Adrien. It was mind boggling. This had never even crossed her mind as a possible solution. But it actually made sense. She was so adamant about her feelings for both Adrien and Chat. The only thing that could sway her was if they turned out to be one and the same person, effectively solving her problem. 

Of course she wouldn’t hesitate if she knew, felt that he was the one she loved all along. She’d go all in. If this proved to be the case now, she’d do it without thinking again. She’d kiss him and tell him she loves him because it would be  _ so  _ easy. If he was Chat, then he was in love with her. And she was in love with him. That was all that mattered, right? It would be the perfect outcome of their complicated situation. 

“But they didn’t remember.” The words burst her bubble, making her blink in surprise. Adrien smiled awkwardly when she and Alya just stared at him. “They didn’t remember who they were, right? This was what Oblivio did from what I gathered, they erased people’s memories. So Ladybug wouldn’t know if he was the one she loved even if he was.” The disbelief in his voice shocked her. It was clearly a ludicrous suggestion to him.

“Right, you’re right about that.” Alya agreed. “But maybe there was circumstantial evidence. Like something pointing out their previous connection, something that could have given her enough confidence to think that he was something more for her.”

Marinette could feel her phone burning in her pocket. She’d tried, again and again, she’d tried to delete the photos of Adrien, to use another photo with her friends as her wallpaper. But he was still there, mocking her. 

She imagined her amnesiac self looking at the photo while trying to make sense of the strange guy that was there, making her feel as if he was more to her. Because there was another thing she couldn’t deny. Even without memories, she was sure she’d still feel the same way around him. Her feelings ran deeper than that. It was there in the way her heart fluttered when he smiled at her and her cheeks burned when he touched her. So she’d look at the photo and it would be the reasonable explanation - he was something more to her. 

“Well, I doubt he’d be that lucky.” Marinette’s head shot up at Adrien’s bitter words. It was crazy that she was even contemplating this, but if he was Chat, he’d want this to be real, right? But he’d been disappointed enough times to hope it was true, she knew that. 

“Second option. You said there is another option,” Marinette told Alya, trying to drag her mind away from this outlandish scenario that looked more real by the second. 

“Well. They forgot everything, as we were reminded. So Ladybug forgot the guy that she loves and well, fell for Chat Noir?” Alya looked between them, waiting for a reaction. It was clear she believed this was the less likely option. 

“So fast?” Adrien asked, his eyes darting to the photo on the desk. Marinette had to agree. It did look like a fast development, going from not remembering someone to kissing them. Instalove or what was it called? 

Except it kind of made sense to Marinette. It felt impossible, but she’d tried to imagine a world where she wasn’t in love with Adrien. If her heart was free to get attached to anyone else, she  _ knew _ it wouldn’t hesitate before choosing Chat. She’d fought that for too long, she knew how close she’d gotten to feeling something more for him. It wasn’t strange, he was Chat after all. In spite of the untimely jokes and exaggerated confidence, the compliments and the extravagant gestures, and the flirting, oh dear, especially the flirting, (or maybe even thanks to all these), he was undoubtedly a great person. A person she could see herself falling in love with in another life.

She’d thought too much about that. She’d dreaded that since her trip to the future with Bunnyx. Because it was clearly dangerous to be in love with him, but it wasn’t impossible. It had happened in that future. She didn’t believe everything he’d told her, she’d be crazy to do it since he hadn’t been thinking clearly at the time, but somehow she believed his assurance that they’d been happy together. She could see that.

“Maybe it made sense to her,” she mumbled, drawing a shocked gasp from Adrien.

“You really think so?” He asked and there was no denying now, there was clearly hope in his voice and in his eyes. 

“Who knows. But it’s possible,” she said, trying to shrug and make it look like she wasn’t screaming inside. 

“So both are possible?” Alya asked. 

“Or equally impossible,” Adrien replied, his eyes dimming again. 

“Well, we’re back at square one then.” With a huff, Alya stood up, scooped the tablet in her bag and turned around to leave. “Thanks anyway.” 

She just left them there, looking at her retreating form in shock.

“Well, I’m sorry we couldn’t help,” Adrien said, clearly hoping she’d relay his apology. 

But Marinette was no longer thinking about her friend. She saw the opportunity slip through her fingers like grains of sand she was trying to hold onto in vain.

She needed to know. The photo was no longer on the table between them, but still visible in her mind. She wanted that. She wanted that surety, that peace of mind of knowing that this was the person she loved and he loved her back. She wanted more kisses, she realised, feeling her cheeks grow warm, ones she’d remember. 

“What do you think happened?” She asked, startling Adrien. 

“I-I don’t know. I wish I could know, but..” He looked away, but she caught the pain in his eyes. He was trying to hide it because it didn’t make sense for him to be so emotionally invested in the superheroes’ love life, right? Unless he had a reason to be. 

“It’s a pity, since they would make a good-looking couple,” she said, her voice trembling. He looked surprised by her suggestion, she was sure the words were too familiar to him.

“Well, they are a team, not a couple, so there is that,” came his reply.

It was too much and Marinette couldn’t fight the grin anymore. 

“It sounds like something Ladybug would say,” she teased him, while trying hard to resist the impulse to just jump into his arms, because holy-!

“She does say it,” Adrien said, eyeing her curiously. 

“Did Alya tell you so?” She was sure she hadn’t because she would know of that. 

“Um, maybe,” he hedged, his eyes darting away from hers, clearly looking for a way out. 

“You should try to come up with better lies, kitty,” she said, taking pity on him. He moved so fast, it looked like a blur to her. Then he was next to her and she got up, trying to keep still on unsteady legs.

“M’lady?” It was the reverence in his voice, in the endearment only he had for her, and the love in his eyes. There was no doubt that it was him. She nodded, the gesture so simple and in no way betraying how her heart was close to bursting.

“Wow.” It was all that he said or did. She felt disappointment shoot through her. Shouldn’t he hug her or something? “Well, what do you think happened then?” His quiet question paused her panic. Oh. He didn’t know.

“Frankly speaking, it could be both of the scenarios Alya described,” she admitted. 

“You mean.. You mean it’s me?” He asked and she could see he was still struggling to believe it was possible. 

“It is you but it could also be you if I forgot that the other guy existed,” she said. “You win either way.” 

“No,” he said, surprising her. “If this is true, we both win, not just I.” The promise in his voice was almost too much.

“What do I win?” she said, a small smile on her lips. She could swear he’d moved closer although she hadn’t seen it. He was also holding her hand, making her grow warm all over.

“Me,” he said simply, but it was all she wanted anyway, so she agreed that it was a win for both of them.

“Is it possible to have another kiss in addition to you?” She asked shyly. “You know, one we’d actually remember.”

“Your wish is my command, m’lady,” he said as he leaned in to brush her lips with his. 

She felt it, the need that drove her to rise on her tiptoes and kiss him properly. She’d been right. His other hand was on her waist, steading her and all of a sudden it was perfect. It didn’t matter what grave dangers they faced because of this. It was worth it. 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what it is with my obsession with recreating the kiss from Oblivio, it just happens 🥺


End file.
